novelraw Chapter 109
Chapter 109
Chapter 109
For now, they were to stay in temporary lodgings, and once their territory was completed, they would be sent there.
“Alright, let’s go!”
We first dispatched the Workers who would repair the ruined old castle and rebuild it into their new territorial fortress.
All able-bodied men from Hawrun were mobilized for the construction.
We provided the materials, but we didn’t have the resources to build their entire castle for them.
“They’re rebuilding a castle here? The size of the territory is around twenty thousand? Hmm, well, that’s simple enough.”
Elder Benetrang, who received the reconstruction plan for Hawrun Territory, told me to just trust him.
There were plenty of Workers and overflowing Mana Crystals.
He nodded, saying it was the kind of environment Builders loved most, and promised to finish quickly and return soon.
“What we really need to focus on is something else, right?”
“Exactly. The sooner it’s finished, the better for me too.”
“Good. Then let’s get started right away.”
The Builders’ work process was incredibly fantastical, and as long as they had enough Mana Crystals, it didn’t seem like it would take very long.
I also needed Elder Benetrang, so I hoped they would finish the job as soon as possible.
“You’re saying you’ll settle in Johnson Territory?”
“Yes, that’s what we planned when we came along.”
“Good. Let’s start by checking the numbers.”
Among the residents of the temporary settlement, we separated those who wished to settle in Johnson Territory.
Most were people who had followed Albio, but some had intended to settle in Johnson Territory from the beginning.
They were residents Yuria had preemptively recruited through her informants.
Some of the residents who were originally meant to come with us had joined the evacuation procession and fled all the way to our territory. We could safely accept these people.
Albio didn’t raise any objections to this part either.
“There’s quite a number here too.”
“There were some who were hesitant. But we gave them a good push.”
“Ah, right. Well, that’s not bad.”
When Yuria first mentioned the settlers, I thought having even a few hundred would be fine.
But once we gathered them separately, there were about a thousand.
A few hundred were those who followed the informants’ persuasion to migrate, and another few hundred were people who decided to settle in Johnson Territory simply because they were pushed into it one way or another.
That was just about a decent number.
“You all should return to your original territories with the next northbound trade caravan.”
“Yes, but…”
“You know better than anyone that carrying a Mana Communicator without authorization can cause problems, right? You should be thankful you’re being sent off safely since you’re not enemies.”
Among the supplies we brought from Haken Territory were magical tools capable of detecting Mana Communicators.
Using those tools, we examined the evacuees from Hawrun and found seven people hiding Mana Communicators.
After some thought, we decided to send them south, accompanying a trade caravan heading for Rubina.
It was obvious at a glance that they were likely informants from the Vines side, but since they weren’t direct enemies, it felt excessive to execute them solely for being spies.
Right now, it was better not to make unnecessary enemies.
‘Selling all the food to those Imperial bastards feels wrong, but turning them into enemies for that alone feels petty. After all, people can sell their goods to whoever they want.’
Still, I believed that the Lord of Vines would face judgment for his decisions sooner or later.
Not only I, but even Elline was deeply displeased.
‘He refused to fight against the Imperial bastards, and now he’s trying to sell food to them. No wonder she’s furious.’
But there was another problem.
The Lord of Vines was the Great Lord of the Vines Region, but he couldn’t control every trade made by the other lords.
The lords weren’t completely subordinate to the Great Lord.
Even if they followed the directive to hand most of their surplus grain to the Empire, there was no real way to stop them from secretly selling portions elsewhere.
It wasn’t like they could monitor every sack of grain being smuggled out.
However, Elline hadn’t been able to secure even a handful of such leftover grain.
‘Didn’t they say the Good-Dog Merchant Group was outright denied any grain?’
—That female Puppy Spirit was furious.
She was raging, calling it discrimination against Beastmen, but to me, it all just sounded a bit… absurd.
It seemed like a stretch to interpret it that way, even if it sounded somewhat plausible.
Especially since words like “Beastman discrimination” or “Beastman persecution” were things only someone like Limond would normally say.
Elline being on the same level as Limond—it was kind of pitiful, honestly.
‘Still, she did seem to have faced a lot. Maybe there really was some discrimination.’
—Humans just did what ‘humans’ do again, didn’t they?
‘I can’t really deny that…’
With this atmosphere, I could already see a conflict brewing sooner or later.
The Dog Tribe were known to be among the most human-friendly Beastmen, but when such people got angry, it was all the more frightening.
Even the Rabbit Tribe weren’t as simple-minded as they appeared.
‘If you look closely, people around here do subtly look down on Beastmen.’
Well, the Lord of Vines could deal with his own mess.
The Vines Region was far too distant for me to worry about anyway.
While the reconstruction plan for Hawrun Territory was underway, I dispatched the Lion Tribe Warriors to clear out the surrounding area.
Building the castle wasn’t the end of the project—securing full control over the nearby land was essential to properly manage the territory.
Normally, that would be the duty of the Hawrun Knights, but they weren’t yet accustomed to fighting in this region.
In the early stages, they needed to fight alongside us and adapt to the area.
‘This much should be handled by the Black Lions. After all, they were the ones who brought over all the Hawrun residents.’
It wasn’t a punitive mission.
It was simply a task that naturally fell to them.
For the Black Lions, monster clearing was more of a hobby than a chore.
Even Limond went down there without complaint to help exterminate the monsters.
—That fierce lioness, however, seemed quite unhappy about it.
‘Well, that’s because…’
—Isn’t it just because you didn’t grill her any meat?
‘Maybe. But seriously, what’s so cute about her that I’d grill meat for her?’
At some point, Leisha started asking me to grill her meat.
She said the meat I grilled tasted much better.
I didn’t understand what she meant at first, so I watched the Black Lions grilling their own meat for a bit—and it was a disaster.
They would snatch up the meat before it was even properly cooked.
Their patience was abysmal—they just couldn’t wait for it to finish cooking.
‘Even for lion Beastmen, they’re not exactly wild animals. Of course well-cooked meat tastes better than half-raw.’
When I grilled the meat, I didn’t touch it until it was done. Once it was fully cooked, I’d slice it up neatly and share it out, so there was no chance of anyone eating it raw.
After tasting properly cooked meat, Leisha couldn’t stop pestering me to grill for her again.
‘No matter how many times I told them to wait until the meat was fully cooked, they just couldn’t do it.’
They understood it in their heads, but the moment they saw the meat, their intelligence seemed to plummet—such were the Black Lions.
‘Leisha asked me to grill meat for her again this time too.’
When Leisha returned after completing her mission, she confidently asked me to grill her some meat.
I flatly refused.
I told her that if she wanted to eat, she should grill it herself.
She pouted her lips in dissatisfaction and stomped off.
But what could I do?
She brought it upon herself.
There were just too many matters to handle with the reconstruction of Hawrun Territory underway.
I didn’t have the leisure to be standing around grilling meat.
‘Well, once things settle down a bit, I guess I’ll have to grill it for her.’
If I acted too coldly, there was no telling what that woman might do next, so I needed to draw a reasonable line.
“Hey, my lord. Don’t you think this is a bit too harsh?”
“What’s harsh about it?”
Here stood another troublemaker responsible for this current situation.
It was none other than Rudick, the Knight Commander.
He wasn’t even a Beastman, yet his mindset was somehow even more beastlike—a real instigator, so to speak.
And now, Rudick was overseeing Mana Stone mining operations in the mine.
—Isn’t that basically a punitive mission?
‘Nah, not really.’
With the reconstruction of Hawrun Territory, Mana Crystal consumption had skyrocketed.
After all, construction in this era was practically about pouring in Mana Crystals.
Thanks to that, the progress was fast—but to sustain it, we needed to ramp up mining speed.
‘And I didn’t want the people of Hawrun to know about the existence of the Mana Stone Mine.’
Though we had strong ties with the people of Hawrun now, I couldn’t guarantee it would always stay that way.
There was no reason to share unnecessary information.
So we quietly mined with only the existing residents, and the only person suited to oversee this discreetly was Rudick.
Even if his behavior was questionable, he was discreet and respected throughout the territory.
‘If the Rabbit Tribe weren’t already assigned another task, this would’ve been theirs.’
At this point, I had no choice but to rely on our own people, and the only one who could handle the job perfectly was Rudick.
—Still, don’t you think it’s a bit suspicious that this male was assigned here at this timing?
‘No, that was… just a coincidence.’
—Hmm, let’s call it that then.
It really was unfair. Just before I reassigned him here, I’d received some surprising news.
It was that Sir Celine, Rudick’s wife, was pregnant.
Of course, it was wonderful news to celebrate—but the timing was tricky.
The Crimson Comet had just recruited many new members, and we were buried in related work. On top of that, with the Empire’s bastards possibly striking anytime, losing one of our key forces from the territory wasn’t ideal.
He could still help somewhat with knight training, but if war broke out, I’d be in deep trouble.
‘Still, come on, I was genuinely happy for him.’
But because of the timing, some people had gotten the wrong idea.
There was a rumor that I’d sent him to the mine out of jealousy over his happy family life.
Of course, no one actually believed it seriously.
Even that rabbit brat was just teasing me about it.
“Ah, at least let me off work early, my lord. I need to be home with Celine.”
“Hey, come on. She’s only in her early pregnancy. What’s the rush—”
“My lord, you heartless man. Don’t you know the early stage is the most dangerous?”
“Well, that’s…”
He was putting on the theatrics again.
It wasn’t even a physically demanding job, so he clearly looked bored and was now trying to find an excuse to leave early.
Since the mine wasn’t far from the territory’s castle, commuting morning and evening wasn’t hard—he could return home right after finishing work.
So now, he was just making a scene in front of me.
‘Honestly, the fact that I didn’t assign him to an external dispatch like the Black Lions should already prove I’m not that heartless, right?’
—If you had done that, Master, you’d really be garbage.
‘That’s not what I meant.’
I never intended to give Rudick that kind of hardship.
Sure, I was a little envious that he already had a child on the way, but joy should be shared—not met with bitterness.
Besides, this guy was like a brother to me.
His mother had been my wet nurse.
His habit of nagging for early leave was annoying, but once he finished his tasks, I always sent him home right away.
“Well, my lord, your generosity always astounds me. But tell me—why on earth did you carve those blade marks into the stone chamber?”
“What are you talking about?”
“What do you mean, what am I talking about? You’re the one who carved those marks in there, aren’t you?”
I was about to dismiss Rudick’s usual grumbling when his words caught my attention.
He claimed that the marks carved inside the stone chamber were made by me—Iron.
“Are you sure about that?”
This wasn’t something I could just brush off.